Leaving for America
by Gallowmere
Summary: With Anzu soon to leave for America, she and Yugi have a heart to heart. (Sort of peachshipping, discussed revolutionshipping). Oneshot. Please R & R!


A/N: Just a short one while I get the next chapter of _Prison of the Soul _ready. If I don't update again until 2020, Happy Christmas/Holidays to everyone!

Leaving for America

As soon as she heard she had been accepted into the study abroad program, Anzu had started packing. Packing and daydreaming - she planned out every bit of her new life in minute detail. How she would decorate her dorm room, where she would eat on the few occasions she could allow herself something sweet, which gyms to use... the whole thing was intoxicating after waiting so long to go.

There was just one problem: she hadn't told the others yet. She had wanted to make sure she would be accepted before she worried them unnecessarily, but now it came down to it she had kind of Lost her nerve. The only way to go was to invite them all at the same time.

She grabbed her phone and fired off a quick text in their group chat: free 2 come 2 mine 2nite?

No immediate answers from any of them. That was becoming the norm the older they all got, and she was no exception. In all her daydreams about the future their was one thing she was unsure of: how their friendship would survive, or in what form.

She flipped back to her mobile's gallery for some reassuring pictures to look at. She had so many of their times together, she really should back them all up somewhere else...

And then she spotted him. It was a picture taken shortly before leaving, in the classroom. She didn't have to look twice to know it wasn't Yugi; it was obvious at first glance from the posture and expressions the photo gave her. Other little details - his hair being wilder, the way he wore his cape... they were just confirmation.

And the voice, of course. In all her own mobile videos she had only ever captured him talking once, and in a clip that barely showed him onscreen. So she had gone onto the web to find tournament footage - some of it not great quality - and saved the best parts, the parts that weren't just about whatever combo was going on.

Looking back on it now it was kind of a morbid thing to do, but at the time she couldn't help it. They wouldn't be seeing Atem again, not for a very long time at least. Back when the pain was still raw, she needed something to look back on. She just hated that practically all of it was duelling. Atem must have hung out with the whole group for fun more than once or twice... but the more she thought about it, the more she came up empty.

She wasn't going to make that mistake with the rest of her friends before she left. Not again.

Her phone buzzed with a text. Yugi. Like usual, he was first to get back to her.

Sure thing! 8pm?

The gang all congratulated her warmly and they had the usual celebration evening: takeout, games and DDR especially for her. She beat all of them, even with Jonouchi putting all his energy into it and nearly ripping her dance mat. It gave her a rare high, until she noticed Yugi. He was trying to smile but she didn't quite buy it, and he was talking and laughing much more than he normally did.

So when the night was winding up, she asked him to stay back. Jonouchi and Honda didn't question it, just said good night and headed down the stairs to let themselves out, teasing each other like usual.

"What's up, Anzu? Need a hand cleaning up?"

He reached down to pick up a pizza box and she grabbed his wrist. Yugi blushed immediately.

"No. I need to know if you're OK about this."

He paused. "I will be," he said, surprising her. "I'm gonna miss you, a lot. You know that, right?"

"Of course. And I'll... I'll miss you, too." She meant it to come out casual, but it didn't.

Yugi's blush was practically luminescent now. He paused and in that second she could read exactly what he wanted to say. "Yugi..."

"Anzu," he said, "When you get back... if you come back..." He swallowed hard. "Would you want to be my girlfriend?" Anzu hesitated, a second too long. Yugi's face fell.

"I - I don't know," she said.

"You don't know?"

"Um..." She shifted her weight, feeling awkward. "What I mean is, can you ask me when I get back?"

"When you... get back?" Poor Yugi couldn't have looked any more confused than he did then.

"Yeah, like... why don't we make a promise? If neither of us meets anyone we want to date in the meantime, when I get back... we'll go out."

Yugi considered it, the hurt still in his eyes. "So... why not now?"

"Because I want to be... sure. And fair to you." She looked down. "The thing is I liked... him... for such a long time. And it's been awhile since he left, and it hurts less, but... I don't want to just try and fill the gap. I want you to know I'm dating you for you, not - someone else."

"...Oh."

Anzu clenched her fist on the carpet. It sounded so awful; he must hate her for what she was implying. She knew she'd hate to be thought of as a replacement for someone else.

But then he took her other hand in his and locked their pinkies together. Yugi was smiling gently, just like he did whenever they saw one another. "Sure. It's a promise."

Anzu's eyes welled up and she grabbed him in a hug. "A-Anzu?"

"Thanks, Yugi," she said, squeezing him tighter. "Thanks for everything."


End file.
